Gypsy's Dance
by Herbblade
Summary: AU. Tenten is a gypsy who crashes into a prince and ends up helping him and his sisters. She and her troupe have no idea how much they changed the kingdom and his life until he has to save theirs. NejiTen.
1. Chapter 1

TENTEN

I loved the feeling of the skirt swirling away from my legs, it's bright red fabric not going up high enough to show my pants, which I had rolled up to the knee so I could wear them under the skirt. Maybe that's the reason I can stand to wear skirts—I have my boy clothes underneath.

I wondered what the 'proper' ladies would think if they knew my 'scandalous' outfit was just covering clothes that even Anko told me I couldn't wear in public. Although, that was mostly so I wouldn't get arrested for witchcraft, not because Anko cared what we wore when we weren't performing. I've heard Sakura and Temari complain about running in skirts, and I usually just smirk to myself and continue to walk around in my pants.

My thoughts about our audience and pants ended when Naruto grabbed my hand and began to spin me around, barely avoiding Sakura. I really wish Anko hadn't paired me with Naruto for so many dances this time around, although apparently we look good together. Kankuro was spinning Sakura, while Gaara awkwardly beat a tambourine to accompany Temari's flute. It was an old folk song, the kind that gets everyone clapping, so even Gaara could keep the beat.

He might be the reason Anko hasn't spent all the money on an elephant or something, but our resident redhead has _no _performable talents.

When the song finished, Ino came up and took Temari's flute and snatched the tambourine away from Gaara. Sakura sang a song about lost love with no accompaniment while Temari prepared for her magic act and Sakura and I mystic-ified ourselves to tell fortunes.

Anko had set up our routines to the best advantage for all of our talents. Sakura and I told fortunes just after Temari got everyone in the mood with her magic tricks. Once they had gotten softened up by Temari, they were ready to deal with some 'serious' magic from me and Sakura. Meanwhile, Kankuro did his puppet show for the kids who didn't understand our easily-interpreted-into-what-you-want-to-think cards.

I took my first customer, a guy in his twenties with a bemused expression. _Probably dared into it by his friends, _I thought, bored already. The guy did absorb everything I told him, which centered around the theme of a chance to make his fortune if he listened to the advice of everyone around him, though.

Not one of my more inspired fortunes, but I bet he isn't dying of starvation and poverty right now.

--

NEJI

I had escaped again. The palace was at my back, although not for very long. My distinctively white eyes would give me away from a distance, even if I had changed into middle-lower class clothing this time.

But even my few hours' freedom from life in the palace would be worth it. None of my father's cold remarks, or watching Hinata and Hanabi turn lifeless when he walked into the room. None of Lee's loud and over-done challenges or declarations of friendship that I did not need.

If I could escape permanently, I would probably miss Lee, and my sisters and Kakashi, once I was gone long enough, but since I would be found by one of them sooner or later, I might as well enjoy the break from my father while fate allowed me to have it.

I heard a lot of talking and some music coming from up ahead, and headed for that. It turned out to be gypsies. One of them was dancing, her hair the nearly same pink shade as her skirt. A taller blonde girl beat a tambourine in a lively beat, a broad grin on her bold face. A brunette boy entertained children with puppets. He seemed to be very annoyed with the blond boy hanging around and laughing louder than the kids.

I started forward, my eyes locked on the bright colors and spinning skirts when I crashed into someone moving rapidly away from them. I stumbled back a couple steps, but the person I'd run into fell to the ground. It was a girl, dressed like the other gypsy girls but in reds and browns. She had her brown hair up in two buns that would have made her look childish if not for the fact that it kept her hair out of her eyes, which were currently glaring at me.

"Oh—sorry." I held my hand out to her, but instead of taking it she pushed herself up. I put my hand down.

She looked me over and her glare softened to a look of mild annoyance. "What can I do for you?"

"What?"

"You want your fortune told?"

I'm sure my face showed some of my confusion, but I've found that people don't find my face easy to read, so I vocalized. "Shouldn't I be trying to make it up to you? I am the one who bumped into you."

She smiled then. "We're both to blame for the crashing thing, and if you let me tell your fortune I don't have to deal with anyone else for a couple minutes, and then Temari and I start our next act anyway. You'll be doing me a favor."

I nodded slowly and she grabbed my hand, pulling me into a small, warm tent, lit by dozens of candles. She pulled out a deck of ornately decorated cards, and paused. "I'm Tenten, by the way."

"Neji." She didn't react, except for spreading the deck out across the small table in between us.

"This is my special deck. My normal one, I can change the meanings a little so they'll make more sense to the person getting them. These, you'll have to take the meanings as they come, and they're much more… magical, I guess. Ready?"

I nodded again and she held out one hand. "Give me your right hand. Good. We're going to find the cards that you respond to." She gently pulled my hand towards one side of the row of cards, until she stopped our hands suddenly. "Your pulse sped up when we passed over this card."

She took it out of the row and placed it in front of me, still face down. Then she led my hand over the cards again, until we had passed over them about four times, and she had pulled five cards from the group. I never felt anything, but apparently Tenten did.

She arranged the cards in a row, and flipped over the last one she'd pulled out, which was on my far left. It was a tall, shining figure standing over an unconscious figure in a cloak. The standing man was clearly a knight, despite his lack of armor. His sword was out and he seemed to be battling a shadow in one side of the card.

Tenten smiled, "The Knight. You are a hero to some, protecting at least one person from a serious threat. But look there," she pointed at the other side of the picture, the side the Knight's back was turned to. There was a darker shadow there. "Be careful you don't get too caught up in your one quest though—there are far more dangerous things lurking around that deserve your attention. They'll show themselves soon."

She flipped over the next card in the row, and it was a small flame that revealed the back of a cloaked figure. Tenten's fond smile turned to a frown. "The Flame. You have little light or hope in your life, but the small spark you cling to will suddenly become brighter. The Flame also signifies a struggle to keep hope alive."

She turned the middle card, and it showed a crown in a bed of thorns. "The Crown; your birthright is in your reach but there are many difficulties within that arm's length. Another symbol of a struggle coming your way." Her frown had deepened as she turned over the second to last card. It was brighter than all the others so far, showing a circle surrounded by flowers. Inside the circle were the silhouettes of two people. Tenten's expression lightened into almost a laughing one. "The Lovers. Apparently entwined in all this struggle and hardship, you'll find love. And a true one at that. The first card I flipped was the one you responded to the least—that means that aside from whatever the last card reveals, your love will be a key part of both your adventure and will become a key part of your very being. The last card is just that—your very being. It shows both what you are and what you will become. Ready?"

She looked away from the cards and met my eyes for the first time since we'd started this. I was suddenly very nervous, although I kept my face schooled. It was clear fate was working through this girl and these cards. But I nodded wordlessly, and she flipped the card.

It was beautiful. It showed a large, fierce bird mid-flight, an ornate cage in the background already blurry with distance. Every feather on the bird was perfect, and it's eyes conveyed freedom, joy, and a fierce new pride and success blossoming.

Tenten gasped and I looked up at her. She met my eyes again. "The Flight. You have a chance at the freedom you've always wanted, and when you find it…" She trailed off and moved her eyes back down to the card. "I've never seen it as a being card, it rarely shows up at all, actually…" She looked at me again.

"You're Prince Neji, aren't you? As in the Crown Prince of all Fire Kingdom?"

I clenched my jaw but made an honest attempt to get an answer around it. "Yes."

"Oh God—you're going to need more help getting out of the cage than I thought." I looked at her in astonishment, but she went on. "Who are you protecting? And from what?"

I took a deep breath, feeling for some strange reason that I could trust this gypsy girl without even having to think about it.

"It's complicated…"

--

SASUKE

I stepped off the stage so Tayuya could have her chance to practice, ignoring the sweat that covered my body. Unfortunately, the snake-bastard spotted it.

"Been practicing hard, my Sasuke?"

I turned slowly, not wanting to even look at him. "I suppose, Orochimaru." I left off any title as a small mutiny to his insistence in calling me _his Sasuke. _It didn't seem to affect the snake-bastard himself, but Kabuto was standing next to him, and he looked like he wanted to kill me.

Before he could give me his usual speech though, the snake-bastard chuckled. "Good, we'll need your talents in the next city. Be ready, my Sasuke." And he and Kabuto walked away.

Sometimes I hate my brother. Then I remember it was all Snake-Bastard's fault, and I love Itachi again, and focus all my hate on Orochimaru.

--

AUTHOR'S NOTE!

Wow… It's pretty long… But I definitely like it.

Random things I want to point out: I made up the cards and their meanings, so don't even go there. Also, because Sasuke never comes up with any good insults apart from 'dobe' for Naruto, I stole something I think Naruto calls Orochimaru for Sasuke to use, because he needed an insult.

This story will contain NejiTen, SasuSaku,and NaruHia pairings. You have been warned!

That's about all.

Disclaimer: I don't own _Naruto_ or gypsies or tarot cards. Just the plot.

Push the big, obvious button right down there and review! I want to know what you think, even if you hate it. Just tell me WHY!


	2. Chapter 2

NEJI

I didn't know why I was telling her. This skinny, brown-haired, brown-eyed, gypsy girl. Suddenly I was telling her about everything. About how I hated my father, how he moved me and my sisters like his pawns, how Hinata was an artist and Hanabi was a big, bright ray of sunshine, but all he saw were potential alliances through marriage. I was the same in his eyes, I told her. I was just more important because even the great King Hiashi had to die _someday,_ and when he did, I would be King.

She started swearing at that point. I raised an eyebrow and would have said something but she waved her hand and stopped. "Sorry, go on…"

I let out a deep breath and went on, "I escape from the palace a lot and wander around until someone finds me. When I was young it was even worse, but then Kakashi came. He took over for our old captain of the guard, who went to travel the world and learn new fighting styles. I was closer to him than I was Kakashi for a long time, but every time I ran off, he'd come and get me. It was weird. He taught me to fight, and has been more of a father than my own dad. He even, um…" I coughed into my hand and changed the subject before I had to admit that Kakashi had pulled me to the side one day and given me the quickest run-down possible of the birds and bees speech. "Anyway, Kakashi's on my side, but since he works for Father, he can't really help me. Our old captain of the guard showed up about a year ago though, and dropped off his son before going to finish his training. Lee is exactly like Gai, but he's been trying to be my friend since day one, and he's not that bad. He'll do anything to help if it's in the name of 'youth.'"

"And what about your sisters?"

I didn't know when this had turned into a council of war, but I answered. "No. They love our father too much, despite the fact that he scares them and is just waiting for the highest bidder before having them married off. They'd try, but it would hurt them."

Tenten frowned, "So it would help you if—"

The tent door/flap opened and the blonde girl from outside stuck her head in, effectively ending our conversation. "Tenten, hurry up, we're on right—Who's this?"

Tenten stood up and glared lightly at the other girl. "Temari, he could have been a customer."

"Your cards aren't out. And we really need to get up there before Gaara starts improvising."

"Fine…" She turned to me. "Wait for me, and then we'll be almost done and we can talk with the whole troupe. I might have an idea."

--

TENTEN

I left the tent with Temari, Neji somewhere behind us to come watch our act and then get our help. Temari leaned in with a conspirator's grin and whispered, "So, is he the guy Sakura's been telling us to wait for?"

I tell fortunes with cards. Sakura is the real deal—an honest psychic, even if nothing is ever clear and usually doesn't make any sense. For a while now we've been waiting for 'the Caged Bird' she's been seeing.

I sighed, "I think so. I'll have to ask Sakura." We reached Kankuro then, who was making one of his puppets beat Naruto while Ino read people's minds. Naruto and Kankuro's shenanigans weren't an act; the audience just assumed they were.

Temari sent him a death glare as we picked up our tambourines, and he backed away, Naruto following when he spotted us. Our last act before we just danced all together and let the crowd realize nothing else all that special was coming was a daredevil-style stunt. It wasn't all that dangerous. Temari stood still and I threw knives at her until there was an outline of her on the board she was standing against. Then we both do some acrobatics and end with Temari bringing some of Naruto's birds out of her sleeve and me letting off some _tiny_ fireworks that make small, colorful pops in the air.

It went off without a hitch and I grabbed Kankuro for the last dance before Anko, who was disguised as a member of the crowd, could glare us into our normal pairings. Since neither Temari nor Ino had a partner when Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand, they danced together. Gaara beat the tambourine awkwardly in the background, but seemed to have gotten the hang of keeping time.

Finally, it was over. I managed to get everyone to pack up more quickly than usual, and then drug them all, including Anko, to where our performance had been and sit in a circle. I had Neji sit next to me. When I introduced him, Sakura's head shot up.

I met her big green eyes and she nodded quickly. Everyone else saw it.

I grinned and said, "Excellent," and started to explain.

--

SASUKE

I was thinking of beating Sakon and Ukon's heads together. I'd like to see them try their illusion act with their brains permanently melded to each other. They share a brain anyway, so it wouldn't change much other than their act. But since all of our acts are only a cover anyway, what would it matter?

By the time I'd decided I could smash their heads together, Ukon had sensed the danger, and they had left.

I treated all of my fellow 'performers' in the same way: I showed them exactly how I felt about them. Even Kidomaru, who was Itachi's favorite out of all of them. I don't know why they got along, but I'm only soft around Kidomaru when the snake-bastard isn't at camp.

Kidomaru was part of Itachi's escape attempt, so I think he understands my feelings, if that's possible. He knows that he's one of my only links to Itachi, but that I blame him for making it out alive when my big brother didn't.

--

TENTEN

I finished Neji's story, and everyone was talking amongst themselves. Neji turned to me, his face blank as usual. "What did the pink girl nod at you about, before?"

I looked from him to Sakura and then back, "The 'pink girl' is called Sakura. She gets visions of the future, and a lot of them have been about you. We don't know what any of them are about, but when we meet people from her visions, we help them. Things usually sort themselves out from there."

"So what will you do to help me?"

I smiled a little. "I don't know yet. That's why I'm asking everyone else." I waved my hand to include the rest of the troupe, all lit up by the late afternoon sun.

Anko seemed to have had enough of small discussions then, and nodded to Naruto, who had been talking with Gaara. Naruto shouted in his Anko-voice, "Shut up, lowly maggots! The almighty leader wants to talk!"

Anko nodded graciously, "Thank you, Naruto. Now, who has an idea?"

Temari spoke first, barely beating Naruto and Ino. "We need to keep his sisters from being married off. The younger one probably won't be anytime soon, but Neji would be putty if his father threatened to have them sent away to be married to some random prince."

Her face said that she didn't want the princesses married off for more reasons than just that they would be hostages against their brother, and I agreed with her. Of all the girls here, Temari is the fiercest, especially when it comes to other girls being treated wrong just because they're girls. It's one of the many things we all admire about her, and the number one reason that her brothers will _never_ underestimate females.

Neji nodded, seeming relieved that his sisters would probably be one of our main goals.

Ino beat Naruto and started talking next. "So do we stay here and help, or do we take his sisters and leave?"

Naruto seemed to forget what he wanted to say and stared at her. "Are you crazy?! We'd have the entire castle guard hunting us down!"

Sakura looked thoughtful, though. "It makes sense. It gives Prince Neji a chance to corner his father when there's no one else involved. And as soon as things are straightened out, we come back and Neji sorts the whole 'kidnapping' thing out and we're fine."

Anko passed judgement before anyone else said something. She looked strained, and I knew that she was about to choose something that would affect us and our money-making. "We'll take the older girl, Hinata. The younger one should be fine. Neji." She turned to him and he couldn't hide his relieved but apprehensive look. "You have to tell both of them what's going to happen, and _any_ castle staff you can trust. We're leaving in two days, your sister needs to get here at about this time on that day, if you decide she should come. You also need to decide that you can talk to your father and how you will work things out. I won't endanger my troupe because you don't have the spine to face down your father."

Neji's face was confusing, and he stood up. "Thank you. I'll talk to all of them tonight, and come see you tomorrow. Will you be here?"

"Yes." Anko looked him over, and seemed to force herself to add, "Good luck."

Neji turned and walked away, and we all stood up. Gaara caught my arm before I could decide to follow him or not. "If you go after him Anko will be even more annoyed. Come on, we need to decide what we'll do for however long when we're wanted criminals."

And our troupe picked up our packed props, tents and instruments and headed back to our camp outside the city.

--

NEJI

I walked down the streets to the castle and had barely gotten any thinking time in when Lee appeared beside me.

"Prince Neji! How glad I am to have found you at last!"

I nodded and it occurred to me that I was sending my sister away. Hinata, gone, for some indefinite amount of time. She would be safe, but… I would have to pretend she was kidnapped, pretend to hate the people who were helping me.

I could do it, of course, but it seemed _wrong_ somehow, which was something I was not used to feeling.

Lee hadn't said much, as he could tell we were headed back to the palace and his job was done. When we were almost there, I sighed. "Lee, can you meet me in my rooms tonight, after the evening shift change?"

"Of course, Neji!"

It was going to be a long night.

--

AUTHOR'S NOTE!

I love writing Lee… He's just fun. I might have Gai come back soon, just to write THAT ever so enjoyable scene… And of course, Kakashi's reaction.

Thanks to ALL my reviewers: ChristinaAngel, turtlechick, lover143, totalnarutofangirl85, XUsAgIxXkIX and jesska-chan! I LOVE you all!

Disclaimer: I'm earning NOTHING from this story, not even from the plot, which is the only thing I currently own.

Push the review button. It's not that hard. I got a review from almost (possibly all) the people who faved or Story Alerted, I'd like to keep that going! Anything you feel like saying, even one-liners, would be great!


	3. Chapter 3

NEJI

I watched Hinata's face go pale. Hanabi looked indignant, and Lee's jaw had dropped. I hadn't invited Kakashi, because my father could make him talk, through one way or another. Lee wasn't technically part of the guard; he was Kakashi's responsibility right now, but my father only gave him a place to live. I could make sure that being kicked out of the palace wouldn't hurt Lee much, but Kakashi would lose much more.

So I waited for my sisters and… Lee to say something.

Hanabi was, predictably, first. "Are you _insane_, Nii-san? You can't send Onee-chan off without any protection! How do you know these people aren't just conning you?"

Lee nodded rapidly. "Indeed! While I am sure that your judgement is sound, I must meet these gypsies first, before I let any of the youthful royal family near them!"

I looked at Hinata. It was her decision, in the end.

She met my eyes and I felt a pang of guilt at making her choose, but she spoke before I could change my mind. "I-I'll do it. But I want to m-meet them first, so I can go to them on my own when it's time to l-leave. Then F-Father can't r-really suspect you." Her stutter was appearing without Father around, so I knew she was honestly scared. Another pang of guilt.

"I'll take you to them tomorrow. All of you, if Hanabi can convince Father she's dragging us to see them perform."

"What if he says no?" Hanabi looked placated by the plan, for the moment.

I smiled, a little, "Make it seem like you'll sneak out anyway. Then we just sneak out if he doesn't let us go."

Lee frowned, but didn't mention how un-youthful lying or sneaking out was, for which I was grateful.

--

TENTEN

I packed an extra bag to take into Konoha the next day, full of a shirts and skirts in a range of sizes. Hopefully some of it would fit Neji's sister. I'd give it to him when he came to confirm that she was coming, so that she would blend in with the crowds when she left the castle.

Well, not blend in. Gypsy clothes don't blend in well. But if Neji told her were to go and she carried a basket of food or something, she would look like she was returning from shopping or fetching something.

Then we'd leave town like we had for a couple days now, and make it look like we were going back to our camp, when really, our camp was already prepared to go on the run.

We'd be halfway across Fire Country by dawn.

Ino and I shared a tent, which was where I was finishing packing the bag, since she was prone to getting into noisy arguments when around Sakura or Temari. They were mostly just to cure boredom, but Anko claimed they gave her headaches and but the two of us together.

I put the bag at the foot of my pile of blankets and left the tent, joining everyone else around the fire.

Sakura was stroking her harp lovingly, practicing a song Naruto wrote. It was actually beautiful, and we all just sat in silence and listened. At the end, Naruto burst into applause, and I rolled my eyes. Of course he would write something that would make us all prepared to respect him a little more, and ruin it by nearly deafening us with his cheers.

Normally when Sakura had visions of someone, and we found them, there would be a little tension in camp, because we were always risking something, but I felt like this time it was my fault, and we were risking much more than usual. The tension was thicker, and I was stuck with the fact that I had found Neji and promised our help nearly immediately.

We left the fire side pretty soon after Sakura put her harp away, going to our variously-sized tents and trying to get to sleep.

--

I kept watch for Neji as we performed all day. We didn't do any individual fortunes, either, so that it would be easier to spread word if anything happened. Naruto and Kankuro filled the time with their acts. They even did a less violent version of their fight from the day before, Naruto going so far as to call some of his animals to jump on Kankuro's puppets.

I could see in Kankuro's face that he was going to kill Naruto when we got back to camp. I almost felt sorry for the idiot animal tamer, but then I spotted Neji.

He wasn't alone, but he was in the lead, so I pulled him into a side street. His entourage followed. When we were far enough away, I looked the other three over. Two of them were clearly his sisters, and the other boy… was odd. That was all I could notice before I saw that he was watching Sakura dance with an expression of awe.

I looked at Neji quickly and he kicked the other boy, hissing, "Lee! Pay attention!"

I turned to the girls. "I'm Tenten—you must be Hinata and Hanabi. This is for you, Hinata." I handed her the bag of clothes. "I'm sorry we can't disguise your eyes, but there are gypsy clothes and a bandana for your hair in there that will keep you from being recognized tomorrow. Hopefully some of it will fit." I tried to smile, and I think I failed.

When no one yelled at me, I realized I'd assumed Hinata was coming. After thanking my lucky stars I was right, I turned back to Neji. "Do have anything else we should know about? Or that you want me to tell Anko?"

"No. I'll bring Hinata tomorrow evening." Hinata's mouth opened in a shy protest, but Neji had already swept out of the street were on, and the others had no choice but to follow him or he'd vanish into the crowds.

--

SASUKE

Kidomaru has been getting bolder in defying Orochimaru. I think it's because even he doesn't remember where his sister would be after twelve years apart. She's not going to be good leverage against him for much longer, and then he'll probably try and leave. Of course, he won't succeed, but the snake-bastard doesn't tolerate any defiance, and Kidomaru will be killed.

Spider-boy makes me wonder why I'm still here sometimes. My clan's honor? I don't remember my clan. My own honor? There isn't anything worse for that than doing everything Kabuto wants me to, just because he has Orochimaru behind him.

Itachi's honor?

When I was seven, Itachi was a emerging as one of the greatest illusionists ever seen. It was looked down on by our parents, but he did it anyway. Orochimaru discovered him, and wanted him to join his 'troupe.' Luckily, Itachi knew what Orochimaru was really planning, and refused.

The snake-bastard killed our entire family. Itachi still refused, and tried to hide me before I would be drawn into it. He failed, and I became the leverage Snake-Bastard used to bind the last Uchihas to him.

Now that Itachi's gone, I'm only held by the threat of word being spread that Itachi killed our family. I wish I could believe that after this long, no one would believe it with no proof, but they would.

And when Kidomaru dies, the only tie I'll have left to Itachi is my honor as the last Uchiha.

--

NEJI

I stayed with Hinata for her last night in the castle. We went through a hurried basic training in self-defense, and I helped her pack.

She kept trying to refuse to let me take her to the gypsies tomorrow, but gave up when I insisted.

My overly kind, caring sister, going out into the world. Would she come back? I forced myself to stop thinking those kinds of thoughts: Fate had clearly assembled a group of hearty gypsies to guard my sister, and they would have forewarning of any danger thanks to the pink-girl's visions.

I told Hinata this as well, and I told her what little I knew about each of the members of the troupe.

We got little sleep, and Hanabi joined us for a long ride that lasted most of the next day. Finally it was time to leave.

Hinata wore a cloak over the gypsy garments, and once we had escaped the palace, we slip into the shadows to remove the cloak and slip on the bandana.

I followed about fifteen feet behind her, watching her closely out of the corner of my eye. We finally arrived, and Hinata's bag was taken by the oldest of the boys, who looked inside as though checking to be sure everything was there, and then congratulated Hinata and joked with her about how they were almost leaving and she should be speedier next time.

I was unsure of how close to get when Tenten appeared beside me. "We'll watch out for her, don't worry. She'll be fine, as long as—NARUTO! DROP THAT RAT!"

She was about to run to the blond boy, who was looking extremely guilty, but she turned back. She pressed a small piece of metal on a string into my hand and said, "Good luck with your father—don't forget what you are," before running off to stop the blond from catching a disease.

I looked down at the charm she had given me, and was unsurprised to see an eagle, wings spread wide. I smirked at it and slipped it over my head. It would remind me of the promise: my sister would return safely only when I had ensured her safety here.

--

AUTHOR'S NOTE!

So this chappie is a little shorter than normal, but I wanted to get it out this weekend and I'm kind of running out of time. Also, after this we get Hinata's point of view and things start moving more quickly with Sasuke, so this was a good place to stop.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or birds, or snakes, or spiders, or any animal mentioned in this fic except dogs. I have a doggy.

A HUGE THANK YOU to all my FABULOUS reviewers: XUsAgIxXkIX, totalnarutofangirl85, turtlechick and ChristinaAngel. I love you all! And to everyone who didn't review: it's not that hard. Push the big, green, annoying button right down there, PLEASE?


	4. Chapter 4

TENTEN

We snuck Hinata out of Konoha with no problems, and Kankuro and Gaara, who had left early, were waiting for us with our wagons. Ino sat with Hinata in one of them, explaining to her how she would be disguised and what she would do.

Our plan was to blindfold Hinata to make her seem blind. That would disguise her eyes and give her an act she could perform if we were in a town. She would be able to see through the blindfold, so she would be part of our acrobat act. We were going to train her on the road to Mist Village, our next stop.

The two of them came out of the wagon a while later, Hinata dressed in various shades of purple with some yellow and orange accents.

I threw her a grin, "I'm glad our clothes suit you. Here, Ino, I'll introduce her to everyone."

--

SASUKE

Kidomaru is moving tonight. He's never asked me to come with him before, but he asked me today.

He actually thinks he'll succeed.

I'm tempted to try. It won't matter what the snake says if I'm dead. His reputation is starting to spread—we had to run out of Suna because a guard there had lost his brother to Orochimaru and told the whole village about us when we showed up.

I might join Kidomaru, but I would change a few things about his plan… Moving at our next stop would be much more effective.

--

HINATA

I followed Tenten around, not sure what to think. They were all self-confident and strong, and my only talent was sketching things, whereas they had so many different talents...

I met their leader, and she was even more self-assured than Ino. They were both very nice, but I was relieved to be pulled away by Tenten to meet the magician, Temari, and her brothers.

I met Naruto last. He was at the very front, riding the horse pulling the wagon with a large dog walking beside him and several small birds settled on his shoulders. His vivid blonde hair stuck up in every direction and he was chattering loudly to the animals. Tenten sighed.

"Naruto! This is Hinata, Neji's sister. Hinata, this is Uzumaki Naruto, our animal tamer. He's a bit loony, but he's nice enough." She rolled her eyes and Naruto stuck his tongue out at her. I giggled and he beamed at me.

Anko, the leader, called for Tenten from behind us. "I'll be right back, Hinata. Be nice, Naruto." And she left us alone.

"So what do you like to do? I've never met a princess before. Is it fun? Is Neji always as stiff as he was when we met him?" Naruto asked a lot of questions, but when he paused he waited for my answer.

I wasn't used to being paid so much attention by anyone outside my family, so I was silent for a moment. "Oh, w-well… I like to draw, I guess. I like to sing too, but I'm not very good. Nii-san is hard to get to know, but he's nice once he opens up… Being a princess is like being anything else, I think. There are good parts, and bad parts."

He thought about my answers, "And one of those bad parts is being sent off so your dad doesn't make you marry some random guy?"

"It's n-not a _bad_ part, r-really…"

He laughed. "Good! I was hoping you didn't hate it with us already, that'd be a bad start."

I smiled slowly in response to his laughter. I could feel something I'd never felt before blossoming in my stomach, and I wasn't sure what it was. "You're all too nice to hate."

Naruto laughed again.

--

NEJI

I took my time going back to the palace. I shouldn't have though; as no one had discovered Hinata's absence by the time I got back and I missed my father's lunch break.

So I went to the throne room, where he spent most of his time during the day, taking visitors and talking with his advisors. I went up to his throne and bowed stiffly when I was a couple feet away. "Father, we need to talk."

He looked me over, calculating. "Then talk, my son."

"I would prefer it to be in private, if possible."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Then it will have to wait. I have three more people lined up and then I have to dine with the ambassador from Sand Country. You can come to my chambers after dinner, as I expect you to be there to meet the ambassador."

His attention turned away from me and I knew I was dismissed. I walked out of the room, feeling the charm Tenten had given my pulling heavily on its string. It felt like I had failed already.

--

SASUKE

Kidomaru and I are escaping the next time we come to a town. Once we escape we'll split up. I don't know what I'll do, but Spider-boy is going back to his home village, to try and find his sister and tell the people there about the snake-bastard.

It's taken preparing to escape to make me realize I have nowhere to go. My family is dead and my home was burnt to the ground. Itachi was thrown into a ditch with no burial, so I can't even visit his grave before I decide.

I'll probably sweet-talk my way into a group leaving Mist at the time we escape and blend in with them until I get far enough away from Snake-Bastard that I can go on my own.

--

NEJI

I paced in my father's sitting room, ignoring the perfectly clean carpet and pale color scheme. I was probably tracking dirt everywhere, but I didn't care. If anything it made me bolder.

He finally came out of his bedroom, wearing a shirt and pants almost the same color as his walls.

Hyuugas are big on white, and I had been up until that point, when I was suddenly disgusted by how, except for his dark hair, my father could have vanished into his walls. I wanted to rip my own pale shirt off and put on something that would clash violently with my eyes and hair.

But I didn't. My father's voice brought me back to the present. "Neji? What was it you wished to talk about?"

I swallowed, trying to ignore the lump rising in my throat. "I… I wanted to discuss the way you treat me, and my sisters. And how you run the kingdom."

He raised just one eyebrow, showing a cold look I had never managed to perfect, even on Lee. "You want to tell me what to do now? Very well, tell me what you think I do wrong."

I was stunned for a brief second before I found my voice. "You treat Hinata and Hanabi like pieces of meat. You treat me like glorified meat, because I am the heir. I've sent Hinata away so you can't manipulate her anymore, because despite it all she still loves you. But I won't bring her back until you promise she can choose her own husband, when she is ready. The same for Hanabi."

I took a breath, but even with the chance to defend himself or ridicule me, Father didn't say anything. So I went on, "As for the kingdom, you're not as bad king as you are a father. But you place imports above exports, and if it continues the people will slowly go bankrupt and starve while you enjoy your fancy food and furnitu—"

"Enough. You have defied me openly, you cannot deny it." He stood up and went to the door, opening it and saying calmly to the guards, "Guards, arrest Prince Neji. He needs some time in the dungeon to sort out his loyalties. And then search the palace for Princess Hinata."

Five guards entered the room and I fell into a defensive stance Kakashi had taught me. Unfortunately, the guards had a longer reach than I did, and were able to grab my arms before I could do any serious damage.

As they led me away, I turned to glare at my father. All our pretenses were gone now, and we kept eye contact until I rounded a corner, anger and judgement flowing between us.

--

TENTEN

We reached Mist after about a week on the road. The night before we entered the village, Hinata asked about Sakura's visions while we were eating supper around the fire.

Anko laughed but didn't reply, so I took up the story. "Sakura and I are both orphans. We grew up together, and when our orphanage closed and we were thrown out onto the streets, we still stuck together. After about a week, she started dreaming about a woman who would take us away from the poverty and tight bellies we were dealing with. She started seeing the woman when she was awake, and she decided to tell me. I didn't believe her."

"But then one day," Sakura took up our story now, "I ran into the woman from my dreams in the road. It was Anko, and she had just left her troupe and wasn't sure what she wanted to do next when two little girls, one being dragged by the other, showed up in front of her."

Sakura, Anko and I shared a look, remembering that first, awkward conversation where Sakura explained her visions, I tried to deny they were real, and Anko tried to understand what we were talking about.

I went back to being the storyteller. "Sakura finally persuaded both of us that she had seen Anko coming and that being together would help us all. So Anko took us with her and trained us to do all sorts of things. Just when she started thinking we should start our own troupe, Temari tried to rob us blind in the market."

Temari turned bright red. "My parents had just died and I had to try and look after my brothers! Luckily," She turned to Hinata, "Anko was more interested in my abilities than the fact I had tried to take her money. She took me to her house and once I told her about my parents and how I was responsible for my brothers, she insisted we all move in with her."

Anko nodded lazily. "And then somehow we ended up hunting down a couple more members to start this fun little circus. We found Ino trying to convince a prince she was a certified matchmaker who would find him the best wife on the planet, and Naruto a week later getting kicked out of a restaurant for hiding a couple rats under his coat."

"Barry and Marcus were hungry too!!" Naruto protested loudly from across the fire.

Hinata giggled. We'd gotten off track from Sakura's visions, so I answered her question the short way. "Basically, Sakura following her vision led us to Anko, which led us to all of this. After that we all believed her, and every time we've met someone from her visions and helped them, things have turned out better for us. That's actually what we were doing when we met Ino."

She seemed to understand, so we went back to watching Naruto try and convince Ino rats should be allowed in restaurants.

--

AUTHOR'S NOTE!

So this chappie is longer than all the others, but it seems kind of short and blunt to me…

Either way, all I own is the plot, so I'd prefer if you didn't sue me while in the process of reviewing. Thanks to my reviewers from last chapter: turtlechick, StOrM iS mY pOwEr, CaffineFreePepsi, XUsAgIxXkIX and totalnarutofangirl85. I love you all!

If you want me to love you, all you have to do is review, it's very very very simple!


	5. Chapter 5

NEJI

I had been in the dungeon for couple days before my father came to see me. I had gone with him to see criminals sometimes, when I was young and there were more of them. I had gone with Kakashi as well, when Father had still allowed me to dress as a young soldier and follow Kakashi and Lee around, enjoying the small freedom it gave me.

He stood in front of the cell, as Kakashi had done with countless men accused of crimes. There was no way anyone walking in would believe I was his son, except how much we looked alike.

We stared at each other. I was dirty, and I knew my hair was matted, filthy, and desperately needed to be washed; and he was spotless as always. With anyone else, it would have been uncomfortable to stare for so long, not moving. But we were Hyuugas. It was what we did.

I was oddly reminded of Tenten, even though the only thing about staring at my father that was related to her was the charm hanging from my neck. She had struck me as someone who didn't stop moving. Stubborn and quick to throw herself into trouble, maybe, but she would never end up like the cold statue my father had.

I think my father realized I wasn't really seeing him anymore, and he left soon after that. He hadn't said a word to me, but he was beginning to realize I wouldn't go back to being his silent son. I counted it as a victory.

--

TENTEN

I don't know how long I expected Neji to take to talk to his father and get everything sorted out, but by the time we reached Mist, I was beginning to wonder what he was doing.

But then we made it to Mist, and we had a new barrel full of problems. First of all, Anko told Ino specifically that we weren't recruiting, like we usually do. Anko's not big on headaches, and explaining everything that was going on would be a huge one. But Ino's talent searching isn't something you can really _turn off._

"Oh, wow! Sakura, look at that guy over there!" We were in the market and Ino was pointing urgently at a boy with dark eyes and hair that was styled to resemble a duck. I had to hold back a laugh as he turned away from us, pointing the duck's "butt" at us.

Kankuro gave me a weird look, but I shook my head as Sakura and Ino craned their necks for a better look at him.

"Aww, he's part of a group."Sakura dropped from her tiptoes to turn back to the rest of us. "Dang. He looked like that one guy from Konoha, only with better hair."

Ino gave Sakura a weird look. "Why do you like dark guys?"

"Why do you? You pointed both of them out!" Sakura looked triumphant and Ino scowled.

"Touché."

--

SASUKE

Kidomaru was starting to twitch, so I had to change the plan. I knocked him out with a small blow to the neck. He collapsed onto Tayuya, who promptly started swearing at him. I grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him off her as if I hated him as much as I had yesterday. Jirobo grabbed Tayuya's arms and held her back so that she didn't leap on me or Kidomaru's unconscious frame.

"Tayuya, that is no language for a lady to be—"

"It is for a girl in a freakshow like this one where freaks like him collapse for no reason!!"

Kabuto glared at us, and Tayuya seemed to remember we were in a busy market. She growled at Kidomaru again, and shrugged off Jirobo's arm before stalking after the snake bastard and his worshipper.

Jirobo looked at Kidomaru and sighed. "I will carry him."

"No," I threw Kidomaru over one shoulder and gave Jirobo my best expressionless glare. "Tell Orochimaru I'm taking Kidomaru to a pub. He needs some toughening up, clearly." Jirobo looked both confused at my offer and amused by my description of Kidomaru, but he left after Tayuya.

I hauled Kidomaru into a side street and dumped the contents of my water skin on his head. He opened his eyes groggily. "What'd you do?"

"We're free. We have until Orochimaru learns we aren't coming back, so I suggest you start running towards your old home. Goodbye."

I stood up from my crouch beside him and took a few steps back towards the street before turning, reluctantly. "I don't think I would have been able to do this if you hadn't tried to do it on your own, and badly." I turned and continued down the street.

I could hear Kidomaru smirking as he yelled after me, "Is that a thank you?"

I didn't answer, and then I had reached the main street. I recognized a blonde girl I had seen gawking at me, and the pink-haired girl next to her. They seemed to be keeping to their own group, and the entire group was on edge, skirting slightly around guards. One girl in particular was keeping her eyes firmly on the ground, despite the fact that she was in the middle of the group.

The blonde girl spotted me before I could decide who to approach, so I walked directly up to her, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "Act like I'm one of your group and get me out of here or I'll find out why you're hiding the dark-haired little girl from all the guards and announce it to the whole city."

She froze, then moved so I could slip in next to the girl they were surrounding. At the same time, she whispered furiously in the woman at the front's ear. They both glanced back at me, but continued moving.

My blackmail spread throughout the group, so no one seemed confused when we went in a large circle around the town square and went back out the main gates. The guards talked with the woman in the front briefly, and we left through the main gates. Once we were well past the gates, the purple-haired woman turned to glare at me. "You just ruined an entire week's worth of work, mister. You'd better have a good explanation, maggot!"

When she had turned to yell at me, I had spotted something on her neck. A sneaking suspicion rose in me, and I tilted my head to the left, pulling my collar away so they could see the base of the right side of my neck. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

She froze. "You… You're with Orochimaru?!"

"In the process of escaping, actually."

She reached up to rub her neck, in the same place I had shown her. "I'd have to be a heartless witch not to help you, knowing what you're going through. I'd be a _fool _to help you though, because Orochimaru will be after you."

I snorted. "Snake Bastard? Heh, he won't know I'm gone for about an hour or two. That's how long it usually takes Jirobo to remember things. We'd better get walking."

"What, you're coming with us?!" Looks were exchanged all over the group as the blond boy opened his big mouth to yell at me.

"Of course, after I learned you've got the only person who's ever escaped the snake bastard before now with you. Itachi spoke highly of you, Mitrashi Anko."

--

TENTEN

Anko froze as the weird boy mentioned 'Itachi.'

"You… knew Itachi? Of course!" She seemed to understand something very suddenly. "Uchiha Sasuke! Where's Itachi, since you were used as blackmail against… him…" She trailed off, realizing something else.

"Anko? What's going on? Who is this guy?" Temari was as worried by this boy as I was.

Anko's back straightened, and she seemed to decide something. "Come on, you're coming with us and we're going. We'll find somewhere to camp out; since it's obvious between Hinata and Sasuke we can't go anywhere…"

I sighed. Another road trip.

--

AUTHOR'S NOTE!

And yet another cliffie on several fronts. On the good side, Sasuke has now joined the group! And we might learn more about the snak—I mean, Orochimaru!

Thanks to my reviewers, whom I love dearly and forever: Mistress Senbon, turtlechick, XUsAgIxXkIX, totalnarutofangirl85 and Unices.

Happy New Year's, I don't own anything, please review!


	6. Chapter 6

SASUKE

"I hate you."

The panda-girl was glaring at me as we sat side-by-side at the front of their little two-wagon convoy. I snorted—like I hadn't heard that before. "Good for you."

She turned her head away from me in a small huff, and seemed to signal someone to the side of us, because she hopped off the bench after a couple seconds and was replaced by the blond boy. He seemed to be distracted but happy, which meant he was ignoring me but his _mood_ was floating over.

Which would have been annoying enough, except he seemed to want to tell me why he was happy. "Hey, your name's Sasuke, right? Well, if Tenten didn't tell you, my name's Naruto—Uzumaki Naruto!" He seemed to be about to go on, when something occurred to him. "What's your whole name?"

"…Uchiha Sasuke."

Now that he knew I could talk he'd been distracted from whatever he was going to tell me before. "So are you going to tell us how you know Anko, or do we have to drag it out of her? Just so you know, Anko tends to over exaggerate sometimes, and skip big details others, so you might want to make sure the two of you have got your stories strai—"

"Naruto!" The pink girl interrupted the idiot's rant, "Stop badgering him, he's just escaped from something _Anko's_ scared of, your curiosity can wait! Besides, we all want to hear it," She sniffed and whacked him on the knee, since she couldn't reach his head.

"Aw, but Sakura! You just want to ask him the same thing, I heard you tell Kankuro!"

She sniffed again and sent Naruto an icy glare before turning on her heel and stalking over to talk to the panda-girl.

What was with these females? They were worse than Tayuya when she was in one of her foul moods. Maybe it was because they had each other to turn to. A sort of union within the troupe.

A potential problem, but not one to worry about just yet. So the girls had friends—so far none of them had shown a large interest in me, the way some other females had. I was safe in that department.

--

TENTEN

"A total jerk, of course, but he really is handsome," Sakura mused.

I groaned, wondering why she thought I was the one to talk to this about. I was wearing pants, for cripe's sake! "Sakura, I don't care!"

"Oh, _come on_ Tenten! Just tell me what you think of him."

I threw my head back and stared at the sky while I tried to think of something. "He seems very used to blackmailing his way into things. Like you said: a jerk. And as for handsome… I don't know… if you ask me, he has a girl's face. And his hair is weird. But on the whole I guess he's cute, if in a weird way."

Sakura bristled despite my reassurance, "He has a girl face?! _Neji_ had girl _hair!_"

I chuckled, "Whatever Sakura, that doesn't change that Sasuke is a girl from the neck up."

She seemed disappointed, and her voice took on a wheedling, curious tone. "So you really didn't like Neji?"

My throat dried up at the sudden change of subject, but I got my answer out. "I don't know. Maybe, if we ever actually got to talk. He seemed to care about Hinata though, which is different from what we'd heard about him… Saki… I gave him my lucky charm. The one with the bird—"

She cut me off with her triumphant laugh and I knew I was never going to hear the end of it.

--

NEJI

My father visited me often, and never said a word. The guards always watched us awkwardly, unsure of what they should doing. Hiashi was their king, and the felt like they should be doing something, but I was the prince and they weren't actually sure why I was in there.

He broke the silence first, on his fifth visit. "Why did you send Hinata away?"

"So she wouldn't get caught in between us."

His eyes narrowed, ever so slightly, and I knew where this conversation was going. "Where did you send her?"

"With a friend," I kept my face blank, but I wanted to smirk. He'd never guess where my sister was, not when I'd never called anyone in the world a 'friend.'

"Why didn't you send Hanabi away?"

I raised one eyebrow, "Because finding one teenage girl who could be anywhere will be difficult. Finding two girls that look as alike as they do would have been simple."

He mimicked my expression, and I didn't know if it was to mock me or if we just assumed the same expressions by accident. "And Hinata won't look like me?"

"Not if my friend is as good as I believe." I was careful not to let it slip that there was more than one, or that the person in particular was female. But at the same time, I couldn't lie, because my father would know it.

He nodded, but his stance showed he was frustrated. We didn't say anything else, and he left within a couple of minutes.

The guards looked at each other and seem to decide it was time for the prisoners to be given water.

--

TENTEN

I got tired of standing next to Sakura very quickly, as she was apparently mentally communicating with Ino, judging by the looks the two of them were sending each other. And me.

I slowed my pace until Sakura got the message and scurried over to Ino. I had slowed down enough that Hinata was next to me, if a few feet to the side. I went over to her, figuring that even Ino and Sakura would respect my privacy enough to not talk about anything they thought was happening between me and Neji in front of sweet, innocent Princess Hinata. Who happened to be Neji's little sister.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. Ino joined us after a few minutes of light conversation about where Anko could possibly be leading us. She sent me a sly smile and turned to Hinata, who looked between the two of us curiously.

"So, Hinata, do you miss your brother?"

She blinked in confusion, "I guess, but there's been so much to do… And you're all so interesting. I've never really been apart from my family, so this is so exciting I can't really be homesick."

Ino smiled at her sweetness, but pressed on with whatever sick mission she thought she was on. "You and Naruto seem especially friendly." At Hinata's instant blush Ino seemed even more triumphant, "Your brother seemed cold, but he was very handsome and I bet he's strong. What will he do if you tell him?"

"W-what does Nii-san being handsome have to do with me and N-Naruto?" Hinata was avoiding the question now, so Tenten decided to come clean.

"Ino doesn't really want to know about you and Neji. She wants to know about you and Naruto, and she and Sakura have some idea that I…" I knew I was blushing, and I tried to fight it, "That me and Neji might be… You know?" I desperately hoped she did, because I wasn't sure how to describe what Ino and Sakura thought Neji and I might feel towards each other after three brief conversations.

Hinata's blush went up a couple degrees, and Ino seemed both sympathetically amused and just plain amused.

Before any of us could say anything else, Gaara joined our group. He was casting glances to the side, and it seemed like every other one was a glare directed at Sasuke. I knew something was up, so I asked him what it was.

"We're being followed," he said, ever the blunt one.

Ino and I started straining to hear, and Hinata's pale eyes widened. "How do you know?!"

"Kankuro and I both saw a big guy when they changed covers. There are a lot of them, we think, but there's so much cover around here that they can pull it off." He gestured to the surrounding forest we had come into while I avoided talking about relationships. "They're probably after Pretty Boy, but once they see Anko they'll be after us all."

"Does Anko know?" Ino was starting to panic now.

Gaara nodded. "Yeah. And one of you has to go tell Pretty Boy and Naruto so they don't know that we know. Anko and Temari are coming up with a plan." Anyone else might have been worried about this particular duo making any kind of plan, but Gaara trusted his both older siblings so much that it usually made me smile. He would go to the ends of the Earth for Temari or Kankuro, and he knew they'd do the same for him.

I spared a moment to wish I had a brother like that before rolling my eyes and throwing my hands up dramatically, walking towards Sasuke and Naruto as if to get away from the others.

--

AUTHOR'S NOTE!

I know it's short-ish, and pretty lame, but I felt I needed to get SOMETHING out there.

I'm in the middle of finals, and the weather's been nasty. Plus Neji's scene just wouldn't come to me. So, that's my excuse.

Don't own; PLEASE review! Reviews are like my oxygen tank half way up Mt. Everest—I might not survive without them!


	7. Chapter 7

TENTEN

I walked in silence next to Sasuke and Naruto, who were actually driving the lead wagon, straining to hear Temari and Anko's conversation as they planned from inside the wagon.

When all I could hear was murmuring, I gave up, and fell back to walk next to the very nervous Hinata. "It'll be alright," I assured her, although I couldn't really guarantee that.

"What if they attack us right now?" she asked quietly.

"They won't," I said, certain this time. "They'll wait until we stop and then they'll surround us. It makes more sense than just jumping us from behind, and gives us enough time to think of something."

----

HINATA

I was scared, and Tenten knew it. I had been with the Gypsies for about two weeks, and I knew that they were brave. I was a coward, and soon enough they would all know it when they fought and I was defeated.

Tenten seemed to notice that she couldn't cheer me up, and she vanished after a moment. I felt ashamed, thinking that she already knew I was useless, but then Naruto appeared at my side. He beamed and we just walked in silence.

He didn't know, but just being there made me feel better. Naruto worked with dangerous wild animals and never worried, because he believed in himself. I'd never been able to have that kind of faith in myself, but just watching Naruto made me wish I could.

The quiet, peaceful moment was interrupted by Ino, who came up right behind me and started watching Naruto and I closely. All my discomfort started rushing back as her dark blue eyes flitted between us. What was she hoping to see?

"Uhh… Ino?" Naruto asked, seeming put off by her odd behavior. "What're you doing?"

"Watching," Ino said cheerily before changing the subject. "Have you guys heard that Anko is going to have us split up and then meet up at some cave? Temari's working on the fine details, but I'm supposed to choose groups—"

Naruto sounded alarmed, "We're splitting up?!"

Calmly, Ino hit him over the head. "Don't announce it to the world," she hissed. "And yes. Now I'm going to go tell Kankuro." And she skipped away, leaving us confused.

Naruto seemed distressed, so I hesitated before putting a hand on his arm. "Temari's smart, and she won't send us off for no reason. Her plan will be good, right?"

"Yeah," he answered, but still seemed distracted.

----

TENTEN

I hated the plan. Obviously, I hoped that they might go after Sasuke, but whoever went with him would be in trouble. It was worse because I thought Anko might take it upon herself to go with him.

Then Temari, Kankuro and Gaara would be a team, because they wouldn't be separated. I would go with Hinata, because I'd promised Neji I would watch out for her. We'd bring Naruto, because I wouldn't leave him with Sakura and Ino, who were going to be a group.

I didn't want them out of my sight for that long. It would be like before we'd all met, except I would be worried about them. I wouldn't know if they were alright or not, because I couldn't be there to protect them.

That was why I hated the plan, but I couldn't explain it out loud. So I didn't have an argument, and word reached me through Temari that we were splitting up.

When they heard, Naruto and Hinata hurried over to me. As I'd thought, we were a group.

Quickly, Naruto asked me, "Do you know where we're meeting? Temari said you would know where it was."

"Yeah, I do," I said, trying to sound normal. This was going to be horrible—something rooted deep inside my stomach told me so. But a quick glance at Sakura, who looked only moderately worried and wasn't arguing about the plan, told me that my stomach had no solid evidence.

So I ignored my gut, which went against my instincts as a gypsy, street urchin and general survivor. I felt the knife strapped to my thigh under my tunic for comfort and tried to ignore the idea that I was being incredibly naïve.

We acted normally until Anko gave the signal.

Temari wanted the signal to be subtle, and then we would slip away in groups until it was her and her brothers, who would bolt.

Anko was not that inconspicuous. Her signal was her leaping out of the wagon, grabbing Sasuke by the collar and pulling him off into the surrounding woods. We all then proceeded to scatter, sticking in clumps as we ran as fast as we good in any given direction.

Naruto grabbed Hinata's wrist and pulled her along quickly as I ran just behind then, listening intently for any sound of pursuit.

Until that moment, I'd told myself they wouldn't come for us. They would go after Sasuke, who was easy to see with his dark head. Anko had been planning on that—that was why she had removed him in such an obvious way. They should have been the main targets.

But they were smarter than Anko had thought, and they split up, too.

When I looked back and realized that we were being followed by about four people, I yelled, "Run!" to Naruto, as if he weren't running already. But he sped up, and somehow Hinata kept pace.

I pulled out my knives, at first throwing them and trying to create a distraction. When they dodged more than a few, I switched to another tactic. Ino and Naruto had helped me make small, exploding projectiles that I had kept in a small pouch since then. Praying to whoever was listening, I pulled the string on one, which sparked the powder inside. The fuse had been Ino's idea and it worked like a charm.

"Thank you," I whispered to my imaginary benefactor briskly, moving quickly to catch Naruto, who was half-carrying Hinata in order to keep up his demanding pace. I don't know when it happened, but that boy had become fast and strong.

I had thought that our pursuers wouldn't have been deterred by anything, but Naruto was proving reliable once again. Every third bomb or so went off later than the others, and had a bigger explosion. Ino and I would have to follow his example next time, instead of discouraging him.

I turned to follow after Naruto, when I was reminded to always count. There had only been three thugs lying on the ground when I'd turned, although one of them had been coughing up _blood, _and the fourth leapt out from behind the tree where he'd been hiding. I dove out of the way, but he landed on my ankle, and I heard it snap.

I yelled, mostly to relieve the pain, and dug a knife into his dirty upper arm. Before I could kick him off with my good foot or he could do more than growl, Naruto appeared, throwing my attacker off me.

Hinata pulled me up with a surge of strength and started trying to help me hobble away. But I looked back and saw that the other three had vanished. They would be on us in moments.

So I pressed my remaining explosives into her hands, and said, "No." Naruto had joined us, so I told him, "Run now, while you can. I'll get captured—but it'll be alright. Go to the second cave after you see the rock that looks like a tree. Take Hinata to her brother, and then find Asuma."

His eyes widened, and he tried to protest. I ignored him, sitting firmly in the middle of the path we were on and drawing my long knife. Stubbornly and without looking at them, I ordered, "Go."

I heard them leave as Naruto's soldier instincts kicked in. His father had been a famous general, and for the few years that Naruto had known him, Minato had taught his son to obey orders. It explained his strength as well, I mused as I listened to their footsteps fade.

Then, much closer I heard a rustle as one of the hidden attackers must have wanted to go after them. I threw a small dart in that direction and prepared to be a huge roadblock.

----

NEJI

At first, when my father stopped visiting, I thought it was another trick. But after a week or so, I began to grow suspicious. I remained silent, though, even when the guards asked me a question. I only said, "Thank you," when one of them brought me an extra blanket.

Then, one day, I heard a familiar yelling and Lee's distinctive face appeared in the hallway, followed by Kakashi's. "Hello, friend!" Lee called cheerily. "We've come to set you free!"

His attitude didn't match Kakashi's, but I waited until Lee had opened my cell door with the key to ask what was wrong. I was right to wait—Lee looked like he wouldn't put me back in the cell before he answered.

So Kakashi said, "Neji… Your father asked us to let you out and bring you to him. He's sick."

----

SASUKE

They sent Tayuya, Sakon and Ukon after us. Jirobo went with _three_ of the underlings after the two girls, and Kabuto took another couple after the family act running in the opposite direction from Anko and me. Kimmimaro led the group after bun-girl and blondie, but looked like he would keel over any second. His disease was finally claiming him.

Anko was good, I'll admit. She was a psychotic melee fighter, but she was good. Whenever Tayuya let out a triumphant cackle, Anko would merely smirk, and seconds later they were all jumping out of the way of some crazy trap Anko had set. How she set them so quickly, I didn't know. She always had me go ahead, and then would join me moments later, that same smirk in place.

But Tayuya was tough, and got them through the traps, and the stupid-twins were fast.

When they caught us, Anko tried to take all of them at once and have me run. Not only did I disagree with that plan and stay to fight the idiots who thought they could capture me, but Sakon and Ukon were enough to keep her busy while Tayuya almost literally launched herself at me. I was faster, and more skilled, but the blunt force she had was enough. When she did catch me, I was done for.

It was over fairly quickly, and I went done with more grace than Anko, but I was gracious enough to walk closely in front of her when they led us away so they couldn't see her face.

She would repay me by helping me escape (for the second time) from the snake-bastard, who Tayuya gleefully assured me we were going to see.

----

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Yeah, I'm back… I figure that's enough of a present to end the chapter there… ? Right?

Anyways, REVIEW. I'll update soon (hopefully) with more PLOT LINE (hopefully).


	8. Chapter 8

NEJI

My father was fading fast; I could see it from a distance. His pale skin seemed almost translucent, and his dark hair was as neat as always, but seemed dirty. Hanabi was sitting in a graceful, ivory chair next to his bed, looking stricken, and I went to her first.

Putting a hand on her shoulder, I said, "Hana-bear, go outside and wait with Lee. He can show you his backwards flips again." The combination of wanting to leave and my use of her old nickname convinced her to stand up and exit the room. She moved slowly, like she was under water or sleepwalking.

Sitting calmly in her vacated chair, I faced my father, who was looking at me as if he'd never seen me do such a thing before. I adjusted his thick, cream-colored blankets and waited for him to speak. It was less a reserved silence and more that I didn't know what to say.

He almost smiled. "We're fortunate that aren't exactly like me, it seems. I thought you were too like me, when you sat in that cell and ignored me, but I don't think you are."

"No, Father," I said, wondering what his point was.

"Do you know where Hinata is?" he asked suddenly, an odd look on his face.

I repeated, "No, Father. But she's safe," I added, hoping that his question had been out of concern for her.

He stayed silent after that, and I sat, unsure of if he would have me thrown back in the dungeon or not. After a while, Kakashi entered with a doctor.

Before either of them could get out a word, Father said, "I know it's bad; must we continue pretending it might have changed?"

"Yes," the doctor answered good-naturedly.

I moved to stand up, but Father stopped me. "This won't take long," he said clearly. "And I still need to talk to you."

----

SASUKE

They threw us in a dirty wagon, and we were hauled back to their camp. Tenten was as angry as Anko, but she had broken her ankle and was biding her time. Sakura and Ino looked terrified, although Ino was yelling curses at Jirobo when he threw them in. Temari and her brothers were put in just before we left. Gaara was the only one who was still conscious, and he looked murderously at anyone who came near the other two.

The only one's who'd gotten free were the blondie and the shy-girl. Anko was still anonymous, but I assumed that the snake-bastard would recognize her when he saw her. Long-tongue doesn't forget a face.

----

HINATA

We stayed in the cave for about three hours. Naruto paced almost constantly, and went a couple times to check the other nearby caves, convinced we were in the wrong one.

I just sat quietly, because somewhere deep down, I knew we were alone. If Tenten had been caught, Sasuke and Anko would have been. Then, after the first hour, when Sakura, Ino, Temari, Kankuro and Gaara hadn't arrived…

Somehow, we were the only ones who had made it through.

When Naruto accepted it, he sat down limply next to me. I don't know how long he would have sat in silence if I hadn't said, "We should go find help, and save them."

It was awkward for me to say, having been the one that they had saved. Only a couple hours ago Tenten had saved me again, and now I was talking about going to save _them._

But we had to. I was about to tell Naruto that, when he said, "No. Tenten said to take you to your brother, and she was right."

"No, they need us more—"

"But we're supposed to be keeping you safe," Naruto said, but his voice wasn't rising like it did in arguments with Sasuke, Sakura or Anko. He was still in shock. "And Tenten was right—I'll take you back to your brother, and then I'll have enough time to get help. Asuma and Shikamaru are great strategists, they'll help."

I stayed quiet as Naruto began preparing to leave.

I wasn't going to stand for this. I was going to help save my friends, because they were my friends.

----

TENTEN

My ankle hurt. Sakura had wrapped it for me, but I could still feel it throbbing and I hated it. I was as good as a liability now, and even if I had known what to expect when they hauled us out of the wagon, I wouldn't have been able to do much good. We were all covered in bruises and small cuts, but I was the only one with a real injury, as far as I could see.

When we were pulled out, Sasuke was separated from the rest of us. Temari and Kankuro, who were conscious again, stood on either side of Anko while I stood in front of her. Ino and Sakura were behind us, watching everything closely. Gaara glared daggers at anyone who came near our group. With his tired eyes, he looked half-crazy and very dangerous.

Temari saw me limping and we switched places so I could lean on Anko. My injury was becoming useful, as I purposefully leaned so that I was covering at least part of Anko's face.

We were in a large, field-like area, except any plants that might have grown there had been trampled over and killed, so it seemed almost barren. I could see the forest, ringing half the clearing, and a path in the other direction, but both were too far away. There were tents spread out as if in no particular order, and a lot of them.

They had us stand in the front of the crowd that was forming around Sasuke, where we could see but were practically surrounded.

There were a lot of them. It was as if Orochimaru was forming a small army instead of a wandering troupe. Based on the little Anko had told us about him, I might have been right.

Remaining almost silent, we watched as a pale man with long, dark hair appeared out of the crowd. As he practically hissed, "Hello, again, my Sasuke," I could see why Sasuke had called him a snake. He was a reptile, but with skin and limbs.

"Snake-bastard," Sasuke replied coldly and calmly. A man with bushy white hair and glasses stepped forward and struck him on the head with an angry _smack_, but Sasuke remained expressionless.

His eyes narrowing, Orochimaru said softly, "Now, now Kabuto… No need to be rash."

The white-haired man seemed indignant at this comment. "My lord, we should kill him."

"No need to waste such talent. Besides, we still have a hold on him."

I smelled something wrong about that. It seemed like policy to kill anyone who got out—why did Orochimaru value Sasuke enough to keep him, alive and broken?

Sasuke let out a harsh laugh. "You can't hurt me. Physical pain is easily ignored, and death would be preferred to spending another minute in your company. Soiling Itachi's name will do you no good, because then you will have no hold over me at all. Even if you don't do it, I will escape again."

"What, with your little friends?" Kabuto sneered, and an idea seemed to occur to Orochimaru.

He motioned to one of his troupe and ordered, "Bring me one of the girls. The smaller, scared ones, please. We'll see if you can handle _their_ pain," he added to Sasuke.

Automatically, we moved in front of Sakura and Ino, both of them looking potentially murderous at being used like that, but still scared. I honestly couldn't blame them. On instinct, Anko moved in front of all of us, spreading her arms so that we were almost hidden behind the coat she wore, which spread out without her arms to hold it down.

The small feeling of safety it gave us as we clumped behind her, feeling for any weapons we might have left, was ruined when she was recognized.

"Oh, _this_ is unexpected," Orochimaru said, sounding only partially surprised. "Our little Anko has come back from the dead."

Anko only growled in response, and the twins who had captured her moved to bring her forward, but Orochimaru waved them off. "Not yet," he said, his dark eyes glittering with some danger. "First, Sasuke. The girl, if you please."

One of the people near us reached to grab Sakura by the hair, and Kankuro whipped around, stabbing him in the arm with a poisoned knife. As the man cried out and grabbed his arm, we were all overwhelmed by the others, who pulled us out of our clump and gave us some new bruises before lining us up next to Sasuke.

Looking us all over slowly, Orochimaru said, "So. We'll have to take some spirit out of all of you, it seems. Beat them," he ordered the group at large. "Nothing extreme or permanent, just something to make them think about listening.

"But not Sasuke or Anko," he added. "Make them watch."

Anko cursed him loudly and steadily as she and Sasuke were pulled out of the line, and the higher-ranking minions moved forward to beat us. Orochimaru grinned evilly and turned away, going back to his tent.

----

HINATA

We went as quickly as possible, moving in a straight line for Konoha, over hills and rivers as we tried to move without rest. Eventually, we did have to stop, but we ate in silence and slept for a few hours before starting again.

It was hard. I had known it would be, and I remained silent. Naruto was tired too, I could tell, but we both bore it in silence. Reaching our destination was the only goal in our minds, and I wouldn't ruin it by being weak.

I felt like it was taking too long, even when Naruto and I were forced to take a break from exhaustion and I knew were going as fast as we could. I wasn't running back to the safety of my home—I was going to get my brother and the army to save them.

----

NEJI

"Father," I said slowly on the second day he had me sit by him, unsure of if asking this question was wise. "Why did you have them take me out of prison and not put me back?"

He almost laughed, which was as uncharacteristic as his next statement. "Because," he said, as if it were obvious. "I'm dying. However long it takes, I am going to die. I wanted to at least pretend we got along before you took over for me."

----

SASUKE

In the end, only Tenten and Gaara didn't seem fully defeated by the pain.

They were in pain though. Temari was the last to make any sort of noise, but all of them had screamed a few times before sagging to the ground, looking only semi-conscious. Gaara was still growling, and whatever animal instinct had activated that was keeping him alert. Tenten seemed to be focusing on her ankle, or on Anko's reaction to all of this to keep herself awake.

I winced whenever they were struck particularly hard. Anko flinched as if she were getting hit every time any of them were struck at all. She was breathing heavily with the effort of keeping silent by the end. From not jumping up and pulling them off her troupe until they beat her, too.

They finally threw us back in the wagon, where we would wait until Orochimaru was ready to deal with us again.

----

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Not sure how I feel about this chapter. I like writing it, but I think it's pretty angsty…

Anyway, REVIEW!


	9. Chapter 9

HINATA

They didn't even recognize me at the gate, which was surprising, but seemed to relieve Naruto. We rushed through the crowds, and Naruto took my hand before moving in front of me so he could shove while I just hurried behind him.

We were too busy trying to reach Neji for my heart to stop completely, but I was glad Naruto didn't turn around to see my beet-red face.

As was got closer to the castle, the crowds started to thin, but one of the guards recognized me.

"Princess Hinata?" he asked, shocked by both my reappearance at the castle and my physical appearance. I was sure I looked dirty and wild, but I didn't care, because he quickly yelled "It's the Princess! Get them!"

Naruto began running again, and we crossed the courtyard. I was hoping to find someone I trusted, who would bring me to Neji, but I was surprised to see him almost right away as we dashed into the courtyard.

"Neji!" I called joyfully, my breath rushing back as we slowed and I was reunited with my brother. He had been sitting on a bench, hunched over and staring at his empty hands. As he looked up at me, his eyes were wide and shocked, but didn't seem to see me.

Seeming confused, he looked through me, but heard me as I ran to his side and said, "Neji, I'm back. We have terrible—"

"Father's dying," he said suddenly, as if the words had shoved their way out of his mouth without his knowledge. He seemed almost surprised at the sound of his own voice, and his eyes shot up to mine, panicked, seeing my face for the first time. I'm sure that my face reflected his, and I couldn't seem to stand up anymore.

As I sank to the spot on the bench next to him and looked away in complete shock, he fingered a piece of my dirty hair. "What happened?" he asked after a moment of total silence. "Why are you here?"

I couldn't answer. My world was crashing in around me, and I sat in silence, staring at nothing.

So Naruto answered, telling Neji softly about Sasuke, Orochimaru and the attack.

----

TENTEN

I focused mostly on breathing as we lay in a pile in our dirty, smelly, cramped wagon. Breathing and not screaming.

Sakura was crying softly to herself, but her healer's instinct had taken over and she was doing her best to address our more serious wounds as she completely ignored her own. Gaara was the only one she didn't treat, as he sat silently on the edge of the wagon, guarding the rest of us in our totally vulnerable state.

It was mostly silent, because we were all too hurt to do anything, and too worried about Anko and Sasuke, who hadn't been thrown in the wagon with us.

They weren't far, sitting just outside the wagon, but still not with us. I was waiting for any kind of noise that might indicate Orochimaru's return, but it didn't come for several hours.

After we all had some piece of our strength and sanity back, they came for us. They pulled Gaara out first, by his collar as if he was a wild animal, but he remained silent. He was biding his time. We were lined up as before, and Sasuke and Anko watched from their spot next to the wagon.

"Well, my Sasuke?" Orochimaru asked silkily. "And dear Anko, of course: will you hear my new proposal for you, or shall we whip them again?"

I shot a quick glance at my friends. We were strong, and brave, but this couldn't go on forever. Already I worried about Sakura, who bore the strain of healing us, and Kankuro, who had gotten the worst injuries in our last whipping session.

But I shouldn't have worried. I had thought I was going to have to be the strong one, and say that they could whip us all they wanted, effectively condemning everyone else to suffer when I reminded them of our pride.

I got off lucky—Temari raised her head and her eyes flashed with pure hatred as she looked at Orochimaru. "Just kill us now—you'll get more use building your muscles by throwing our dead bodies into the forest than you will from trying to torture us."

"Oh my poor rodent," Orochimaru said to her, and I hated him even more, "You say that now…"

----

SASUKE

I'd escaped from Orochimaru before. I could do it again.

"They're nothing to me," I said smoothly. "But Itachi hated seeing innocents die… Let them go, and I'll rejoin you."

Unfortunately, I hadn't accounted for the people I was trying to save. Both Temari and Gaara growled, Ino and Sakura looked stricken, and Tenten took a deep breath.

She let it out by yelling, "You idiot, Sasuke! Giving yourself to this snake is the _stupidest_ plan I've ever heard! You only wish you could get rid of us that easily!"

Another plan foiled by misunderstanding do-gooders.

----

NEJI

I was supposed to be figuring out what I would do with the country, making my last peace with my father. But instead I had sent Hinata and Naruto to wash up, and to see Father briefly. They only had as much time as it would take me to gather whoever could be spared to go and save Tenten and the others.

Naruto knew approximately where they might be, from listening to Anko and Sasuke's conversations, and I paced my rooms hoping they were all still alive.

Luckily, there was at least one thing I didn't have to worry about. Kakashi was staying to supervise my father's care and manage the guard who remained behind, and Lee had sworn to follow me "into any battle that the youthfulness of your heart can find!"

Right.

Neither of them was trying to stop me, and I was grateful.

----

TENTEN

They were going to whip us again, I could feel it. Temari whispered a quick, "Sorry," but as she stared defiantly up at the pink-haired female lackey, I couldn't bring myself to regret her words.

Anko could, though. "Stop it!" she yelled as the girl raised her arm to whip Temari. "You obviously want something very badly, so you might as well tell me what they're dying to protect me from," she said viscously to Orochimaru, but I heard something I almost didn't recognize in her tone.

She was scared. Of Orochimaru or what he would do to us, I don't know. But her fear made me more determined to keep her away from the snake-man.

I looked around at the masses of Orochimaru's henchmen, and decided recklessly that we were going to get out of this. Somehow.

----

HINATA

I washed first, and put on my riding clothes, because my gypsy clothes were almost ruined. I moved as quickly as possible, and then nearly ran through the halls to Father's room.

I opened the door slowly, afraid of what I would see and what he would say. When I finally walked into the room though, I saw that he was asleep. Sick, certainly, but sleeping as peacefully as possible.

For no reason, I almost giggled as I backed quietly out of the room, letting my Father sleep.

----

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Short chappie, I know. It's merely a filler, because, obviously, things start to happen soon that would take too much room to be included her.

Because I'm tired and I want to post something.

SO. Please review, so we can get to the action-goodness.


	10. Chapter 10

HINATA

Naruto seemed almost amazed at the forces Neji had pulled together in an hour.

To tell the truth, they were impressive. Kakashi had been training the soldiers to be ready at a moment's notice, and it had paid off. Though he wasn't acting like it, Neji was pleased that it wasn't taking an absurd amount of time to get going.

My brother was sitting on his horse, looking stern and impatient. The resemblance to our father was striking but, unlike my father, Neji was playing randomly with something that hung around his neck and his eyebrows were pulled together in worry.

Earlier, he had been looking off into the distance as if trying to see our friends and how they were faring, but now he was focused.

Lee was sitting on his horse next to Neji, and while he was also surprisingly serious, he was still excited to be going on such a noble mission. This typical Lee behavior seemed to calm Neji.

One of the over-worked looking grooms brought up my gentle mare, who seemed to be drawing energy from the rest of her surrogate herd, up to me, and I mounted gratefully. Neji seemed to have assumed I was coming, and everyone else took their cue from him.

The only person who would have opposed me coming was Naruto. But as I watched him, I noticed that he was either looking at the almost-ready soldiers in amazement, or looking down at his placid horse apprehensively.

I stifled a giggle, but he heard. "What?" he asked, looking genuinely curious and not at all defensive.

"You'll be fine," I assured him. I loved horses, and knew that the one he was riding wouldn't have bucked a badly-behaved monkey.

He still seemed nervous, but he sent me a self-confident smile that made my cheeks heat up. I looked away just in time to see Neji spur his horse into action. Lee yelled at the soldier to get in order and we were off.

----

TENTEN

"…My dear Anko," Orochimaru was saying. "It's not that I think you're any better than the rest of these maggots, it's that I want you to learn. Sasuke, of course, has the potential to develop his brother's gifts. And, as a bonus, the boy has a nature much better suited to our little group than Itachi ever did."

He paused to send Sasuke a shiver-inspiring smile.

When Sasuke didn't respond at all, Orochimaru sighed and turned back to Anko. "But _you_ have been evading me for years. I had all but given up on you, and now you waltz back into my grasp. You were a good student, but I need an example made out of you. A serious example. So I'm going to play with you before you die."

"And rest assured," the girl with the violently pink hair spoke up nastily, "You'll all die."

Orochimaru sent her a quelling look, and she shrank a little.

I heard Gaara growl down the line, and Kankuro muttered to him that he needed to calm down.

I looked down that way, and wasn't pleased by what I saw. Sitting next to me was Ino and she looked horrible, and Sakura was even worse. Being the impromptu doctors meant that not only were they tired, but when we ran out of extra fabric to rip up for bandages, they'd started using their sleeves. They hadn't used very much sleeve-fabric yet (the skirt I'd been luckily wearing over my pants had provided most of the bandages), but soon we'd all be sacrificing whatever we could to try and stop the bleeding.

We needed an escape plan, and fast.

Shifting my gaze back to Orochimaru, I tried to shut everything out and _think._

Naruto would be back soon, I hoped. He had a lot to do, but he was fast. He would have gotten Hinata home by now and been looking for Asuma, who wouldn't waste any time either.

Getting an idea, I looked at Temari, who was on the other side of me than Ino. I would need her help.

----

SASUKE

As Orochimaru spoke, I was originally watching Anko. When it became apparent that she was making her plan up as she went along, I snuck a glance at the others.

Just in time to see Tenten's eyes light up. She looked at Temari conspiratorially but didn't say anything. I knew that the best plan now would be to buy them some alone time, without getting them whipped beforehand.

They were all in a sorry state, and I made a show of looking them over. Then I chuckled briefly, as if a thought had just occurred to me.

Orochimaru's head swung to me as if a magnet. "Yes, my Sasuke?"

"Nothing," I said dismissively.

His eyes narrowed, and he said quietly, "Tell us all, if you value their lives."

I smirked at the perfect opening. "That's just it," I said airily. "They're only going to last a few days at this rate. I might as well just let you kill them now, as a mercy. There's a reason professional torturers leave a few days in between torture, when they aren't trying to get information, apparently."

His face settled into its thoughtful expression, and Anko looked at me curiously. I could feel Tenten's surprised eyes on me as well, and my smirk grew smugger.

"He has a point," Orochimaru said finally. "We'll postpone this until dark. Get a bonfire going before then, and throw the maggots back into the wagon."

----

TENTEN

Sasuke and Anko remained outside, but I managed a quick 'thank you' to Sasuke as we were hauled past them back to the wagon.

This had turned out better than I could have hoped. Not only did I have a chance to try my plan, but a bonfire (while intended to burn us, no doubt) would act like a beacon.

As we were thrown into the wagon, I pulled Temari with me to the back. Sakura caught the pointed look I gave her, and began fussing noisily over Kankuro. Ino caught on quickly, and between their conversation and Kankuro's protests, there was more enough noise cover.

"Temari, I've got a plan," I whispered. "Naruto's probably on his way, but he won't know where to go, and we need the outside help."

She looked thoughtful, but remained the practical Temari that I knew well. "How can we get him here? We'd have to escape to lead him to this camp, and that would defeat the purpose of leading him here."

I bit my lip. "Actually…" I hesitated, before saying certainly, "Only one of us has to escape. And I think it should be Gaara."

Her eyes widened, and I knew she was scared for her brother. But not only was Gaara in the best shape out of all of us, but he had the best chance of getting away and then outrunning whoever pursued him.

Temari looked down at her lap for a brief moment, before crawling away from me. She returned with Gaara, who knew something was happening from her expression.

"Gaara," she said, when I clearly didn't want to start the conversation, "You have to escape on your own and go find Naruto."

He started to protest and I intervened. "You're the only one who can run off into the woods and find him. And the only one who could run off into the woods at all, and get away. We think he's coming, but he needs more than a bonfire to lead him here."

"It has to be you," Temari said, smiling slightly.

Always smart, he seemed to accept our logic. "When?" was all he asked.

I thought quickly, "When they pull us out after dark. They won't be able to see as well, and we haven't put up a fight so far so they won't be expecting it. And you'll buy us some time, because they'll be caught up trying to find us."

He nodded solidly, and Temari went to spread the plan around, starting with Kankuro. I knew she wouldn't like it, and Kankuro wouldn't like it, but I knew from Gaara's expression that it was a good plan.

I sighed, hoping he was right.

We waited in a much tenser atmosphere as the hours crept by, and Gaara was probably the calmest of all of us. His face was blank, and he ignored his siblings' nervous looks as though they didn't exist.

Sakura and Ino checked his few wounds and declared him fit to travel, but that did little to ease Temari and Kankuro's worries—or mine.

But, finally, a dirty face appeared at the opening of the wagon, and as Ino allowed herself to be pulled out first, I met Gaara's eyes. His expression didn't change, but I saw the determination under his calm demeanor.

We had agreed that Gaara would be taken out last, so I moved in front of him as the dirty face grew impatient. But I knew that we had a chance, because the minions were barely bothering to guard us anymore.

After we had been captured, we had been carried, or at least drug, everywhere. Now they were barely bothering to shove us. I decided in a moment of hysteria to remember not to do that if I ever kidnapped someone.

A few seconds after that thought, there was the sound of someone hitting the ground from behind me. I turned just in time to see one of Gaara's escorts fall to the ground. The other lackey lunged unsuccessfully after a red-haired figure, which was quickly vanishing into the shadows, and then the forest.

He yelled and gained the attention of the others, and soon there were a handful of Orochimaru's minions running after Gaara. But it was too late, and Temari couldn't repress a triumphant smirk. It lasted even when Kabuto started screaming at the guard Gaara had knocked out, and at the guards still guarding us.

By the time Orochimaru emerged, looking extremely annoyed, Kabuto had regained some of his control, and was having our guards haul us towards the bonfire. There were more lackeys running pointlessly after those who had gone after Gaara, and at least four for each of us.

I figured that every single minion of Orochimaru's was out and trying to look like they were doing something (and therefore not to be blamed for Gaara's escape).

Temari had controlled her expression by the time Orochimaru turned to us, but Anko and Sasuke hadn't.

When Sasuke shows emotion, it seems to take him a while to rearrange his expression again. His jaw was open up until Orochimaru's gaze landed on him, when it snapped shut. Anko, meanwhile, looked like a combination of triumphant and shocked.

In a way I was beginning to recognize as dangerous, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "Apparently," he said slowly, "We need to deal with you more quickly than I had planned. Or, perhaps after I kill the first of you, you'll tell me just where your little friend thinks he's going."

Anko paled to the complexion of a ghost and I felt my stomach drop out of my body completely.

The only thought left was _Hurry, Gaara… Please, please hurry…_

----

NEJI

As the day wore on, I was beginning to grow impatient.

Naruto claimed that Sasuke had said Orochimaru's camp was in the opposite direction than the way they had originally left the city.

Hinata reasoned, then, that since they had also gone in the opposite direction from Konoha, they had probably passed near the camp on their way back. And since it had taken them less than two days to reach Konoha on foot, it should take us less than one to reach the camp on horseback.

We were still riding through the woods after the sun had set, and I was pleased to see that none of the soldiers seemed tired, and Naruto, Hinata and Lee all seemed determined to continue until we found the camp.

As we rode, the undergrowth started moving to one side of the trail, and I stopped my horse and turned to see a vaguely-familiar redhead emerge from the bushes.

Naruto practically leapt off his horse and went up to the very ragged and dirty boy. "Gaara!" he yelled, despite being two feet away from him. "What happened?"

"Orochimaru," was all Gaara said. "You have to come, now." He looked around at the mounted soldiers in subdued amazement, but Naruto wasn't wasting any more time.

Neither was I. "Help Gaara onto your horse, Naruto, and lead us there. Quickly."

Swaying slightly, Gaara said, "You should be able to see it soon. You're close, and they lit a bonfire."

Hinata bit her lip in worry, but Naruto remained obtuse. "Why would they do that?"

Almost smiling at the typical Naruto comment, Gaara still said the grimmest thing I'd ever heard. "To burn things. Or people."

Without another word, we followed Gaara's verbal directions off the trail and towards the bonfire, which I could gradually see through the trees.

We arrived outside the large burned-looking clearing in little time, just in time to see all the gypsies except Ino lunge forward as the man I assumed was Orochimaru grabbed Ino by her long ponytail. He jerked her towards him and, I realized, the fire.

I looked back at Lee, whose eyes were as wide as I knew mine were, and we started moving, the others close behind.

----

SASUKE

He was going to do it. Orochimaru was actually going to feed them to the fire, one at a time.

Despite being tied to Anko, who was tied to the wagon, I lunged forward as he grabbed Ino by her hair, and noticed that not only Anko, but all the rest of them, lunged at the same time.

Great. I was one of them.

But it quickly became a very bad time to be wondering about what being 'one of them' meant, because at that moment a large amount of horses (and their riders) flooded the clearing.

They completely avoided us, and one of the leaders (a guy about my age with the weirdest bowl cut I'd ever seen) went directly to Orochimaru, stabbing him in the arm so he dropped Ino and then apparently arresting him.

I was disappointed he didn't die, but then I was distracted by Hinata and Naruto appearing and jumping off their horses. Naruto untied Anko and me while Hinata ran over to Ino, although the blonde seemed only a little shaken.

The final person to join our little ragged group was an older-looking, male version of Hinata. He looked us over, an odd expression on his face. But he didn't seem to be looking down on us, more amazed, so I let it go.

I'd barely noticed Gaara, who had taken his place in between Temari and Kankuro silently and was sitting there stubbornly. A weird kid, but I decided that since he'd save us all, he was alright, too.

All this tolerance of others made me tired, so I watched quietly as all the gypsies helped each other up. Naruto resolutely helped Anko stand, and then turned to offer a hand to me. He avoided my eye, and I took his hand, bemused.

The male-Hinata had gone over to Tenten, who was sitting next to Temari, and held out his hand.

She smiled slightly. "'Lo, Neji," she said hoarsely, and took the hand, allowing herself to be pulled up into a standing position. She then hauled Temari up, and it went down the line until we were all standing.

With moments like that, where we just stood and felt glad to be alive, I didn't actually mind that there was an 'us.'

----

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

YEAH!! REALLY LONG CHAPTER!!

And I don't know if you guys liked it, but I really had fun writing it…

You can tell me how you feel by reviewing you know… So do it!!


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